By IRNA,
Islamabad : Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for two suicide attacks on Friday which killed at least eight people including a prominent religious scholar.
Maulana Sarfaraz Naeemi, head of the seminary “Jamia Naeemia” in the city Lahore, a senior anti-Taliban religious scholar, was killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at his office shortly after Friday prayers. Three other people were also killed in the attack.
Meanwhile a suicide bomber targeted a mosque of the army’s supply depot in the city of Nowshehra in the North West Frontier Province, killing at least four people, police said. Upto 100 other people were injured and the mosque collapsed.
Syed Hafiz, a spokesman for Taliban led by Baitulah Mehsood, told reporters on phone in Peshawar that his group carried out both suicide attacks.
He said Maulana Sarfaraz Naeemi was killed as he was speaking against Pakistani Taliban. He said that the mosque in army area was targeted to take revenge of ‘Pakistani forces bombing of a seminary’ in the city of Hangu in the northwest and killing of its head.
The Taliban spokesman also claimed responsibility for the attack on a five-star hotel in Peshawar on Tuesday which had killed around 18 people and injured over 50. He said that two Taliban from Orakzai tribal region had carried out the hotel attack.
Taliban have launched series of attacks across the country as the security forces have continued offensive against the militants in Swat and other parts of the northwest.
The security forces said that 39 militants have been killed in the offensive in 24 hours.
The army claims to have killed over 1300 killed in the operation over the past two months.